Floating sluice



y 1939- w. A. WHITCOMB 2,156,713

' FLOATING SLUICE Filed June 19, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l aww Inverfior.

May 2, 1939. w. A. WHITCOMB FLOATING SLUICE Filed June 19, 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 2 w. an v Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEFLOATING SLUICE Application June 19, 1937, Serial No. 149,119

8 Claims.

This invention relates to floating sluices and sluice-ways,particularly, although not necessarily limited, for use for conveyinglogs, as pulp logs, through a body of water as a pond or canal.

Sluices made of Wood and supported by rafts have been used heretofore toconvey pulp wood to the barkers or the grinders or to the grinderreservoir. Such wooden sluices are diflicult to adjust for proper gradeand elevation with respect to the level of the water in which they arefloated and in proper alignment with adjacent sluices and arealsodifficult to operate and to keep in repair owing to their rapiddecay and to the destructive forces of turbulent water in which they maybe floated.

Hence one of the objects of the present invention is a sluice unitadapted to be united with similarly constructed sluices to form asluice-way, the sluice being comprised mainly of a buoyant metalconstruction not readily damaged by rough treatment and having provisionfor ready adjustment of its level with respect to the level of water inwhich it is floated and preferably also having provision for adjustmentof the grade of the sluice to adjust the flow of water therealong.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a buoyant metalsluice adapted to cooperate with similar sluices in end to end relationtherewith to form a continuous water channel, the sluices havingprovision for interconnection between their adjacent ends in such mannerthat any desirable angular relation between the adjacent sluices can bemaintained, the connection,

however, being adjustable so that the angular relation between adjacentsluices may be varied to unite the sluices into a continuous sluice-Wayhaving such configuration as may be desirable to conform with theconfiguration of the water-way in which the sluice-way is floated.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a sluice composedof a buoyant metal structure having skids on the bottom thereof by whichthe sluice may be supported in hauling it out of water and onto theshore of the waterway, the skids also strengthening the sluicestructure.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sluice havingbuoyant members or' pontoons on opposite sides of the water passage, thesides of the pontoon preferably defining the sides of the passage andthe pontoons having water receiving compartments by which the floatinglevel of the sluice can be adjusted by adjusting the amounts of water inthe compartments; the pontoons also preferably each having separatecompartments distributed lengthwise of the pontoon capable of receivingdifferent amounts of water so that one compartment can be loaded moreheavily than the other to incline or pitch the water passage.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a floatingsluice-way composed of buoyant metal sluices and a spout which fits intothe entrance of the sluice-way to guide water to flow therein from astorage pond, the spout being capable of automatic vertical adjustmentto accommodate the rise and fall of the sluice-way in response tochanging elevations of the level of the Water in which the sluice-way isfloated.

Another object is generally to improve the con- 5 struction andfacilitate the use of sluices and sluice-ways.

Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view of a floating sluice-way embodyingthe present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View illustrating the first three sluiceunits located at the entrance end of the sluice-way of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the sluice units of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a view of the entrance end of the first sluice of Fig. 3,taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2. andomitting the entrance unit.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken along line 5-5 of the second sluiceof Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken along line 6-6 of the third sluiceof Fig, 2.

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional detail of the outlet passage of thewater reservoir and illustrating in end view the spout for conductingwater into the floating sluice-way.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section through one of the pontoons of a sluiceunit, taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

The sluice-way I0 embodying the present invention is herein shown asarranged to conduct water and logs, as pulp logs, floating therein froma reservoir held back by a dam l2, Fig. 1, through a canal M to anelevating conveyor I 5 which conveys the logs to a barking drum houseI8. The sluice-way, however, is not limited to this par- 'ticular use.

The sluice-way comprises a plurality of sluice units 20 which are or canbe identical and two additional units 22; and 24 which form the firstand second entrance units of the sluice-way and in general embodying theprinciple of construction thereof although they are not identicaltherewith.

Each of the sluice units 2!) comprises a pair of pontoons 26 and 28disposed in spaced side by side relation and composed of the upstandingside walls 30, the end walls 3|, the top walls 32, the inclined innerside walls 34 and the bottom wall 36, the bottom wall being common toboth pontoons. A plurality of skids 38 are secured transversely to thebottom wall to rigidly connect the pontoons together and to formsupports by which the unit can be dragged over the ground in launchingthe pontoons and pulling them out of the water.

The confronting inclined inner side walls 34 of the pontoons are spacedapart to form a water channel 40 between them, the bottom wall 36forming the bottom wall of the channel.

All of the walls of the unit are composed of relatively thick steelsheets, as boiler sheets, so that the unit is strong and rigid and canwithstand without serious injury the buffeting to which it may besubjected when floated in turbulent waters carrying rapidly moving solidobjects.

The interior of each of the two pontoons are divided into twocompartments by a vertical partition plate 42 extended transverselyacross the pontoon in the middle thereof and welded or otherwise securedin a water tight manner together at its edges to the contiguous walls ofthe pontoon and thereby provides each of the pontoons with separatefront and rear water tight compartments, which serve to float the unitin the water. The pontoon compartments are provided with large fillingnecks 44 which open through the top walls 32 of the pontoons, the necksbeing closed by removable caps 46. Water is adapted to be introduced inany suitable manher through these necks into the pontoon compartments toadjust the level at which the sluice unit floats in the water. It willbe apparent that by varying the amounts of water in the compartments theunit may be adjusted to fioat at a higher or lower level in the water.The amounts of water in the compartments may be different so as to levelthe unit and to pitch it in the desired direction. For instance, theremay be more water in the forward or left hand compartments, see Fig. 8,than in the rear or right hand compartments, so that the pontoons can bepitched in the direction of water flow in the sluice 40, and byadjusting the amounts of water the rate of flow of the water in thesluice can be adjusted.

The side walls 34 and the bottom wall 36 of the sluice unit areprojected beyond the end of the unit at one end thereof, and preferablythe discharge end, and the projecting ends are adapted to nest in thewater channel of the next adjacent sluice units, as is illustrated inFig. 3, so that the water can pass from one unit to the other withoutserious loss of water therebetween. While there is some loss of waterthe amount is relatively small and inconsequential There is intended tobe permitted a substantial amount of play or universal movement betweenthe interfitting parts of the sluices so that the sluice units can bedisposed sufliciently out of direct alignment to form the sluice-Wayinto any configuration that may be necessary to accommodate it to thewaterway in which it fioats. V

The top walls 32 of the pontoons are broad enough to form foot-pathsalong which a workman may walk to inspect the line of units and the logsfloating therealong.

The adjacent units are connected together in end to end relation in anydesired angular relation by tie bolts 48 and are passed throughconfronting brackets 50 that are located at the ends of the unitsadjacent the long sides thereof, the tie bolts being secured to thebrackets by nuts 52. The bolt holes in the brackets are larger than thetie bolts so that the bolts can be positioned at any desired angle inthe brackets required for the angle between the adjacent sluice units.

The sluice unit 24 is essentially the same in construction as one of theunits 20, except that it is provided with three sets of transversepartition plates or bulk-heads 54, see Fig. 2, to form four water tightcompartments extending along the length of each pontoon. The side walls34 of the sluice also have extensions 34w which rise above the top walls32 of the unit to accommodate the higher elevation of water in thisunit. Each compartment of the unit is provided with a filling neck 44.

The sluice unit 22 is also constructed along the general principlesembodied in a unit 20 except that the inclined sides 34 of the sluiceupstand above the top of the pontoons and have higher upstandingparallel sides 56 that are high at the water entrance end of the unitand taper downwardly toward the discharge end of the unit, asillustrated in Fig. 3, and are supported from the pontoons by theupstanding braces 58, see Fig. 4. The unit is also deeper to providemore increased buoyancy to support the additional weight. The sluice 40is also higher in the pontoons and the bottom wall 60 thereof is alsoelevated above the bottom wall 62 of the unit and is supported onupstanding plates 64 which isolate the pontoon compartments on oppositesides of the sluice. The pontoons are divided into four water tightcompartments located lengthwise of the unit by the partition plates orbulk-heads 66,

The entrance end of the sluice-way is anchored to the dam by eye members68 loosely secured to brackets carried by the end of the unit 22 andslidable on vertical rods 12 secured to the dam. With this arrangementthe units may rise and fall to accommodate changes of level of water inthe canal while maintaining their anchorage to the dam. The sluice-way,at intervals along its length, is also anchored against lateraldisplacement in the canal by pairs of chains or cables 14 which extendin opposite directions from the units and are anchored tolthe oppositebanks of the canal.

Water and logs are guided into the entrance end of the sluice-way by aspout l6 composed of sheet metal and having a bottom wall 18, see Fig.'7, and side walls 80, the side walls at the entrance end of the spoutclosely engaging the side plates 82 of the water outlet of the dam andat the discharge end of the spout fitting within and closely engagingthe sluice walls of the first sluice unit 22. The entrance end of thespout is pivoted at 84' between the flash board channels 86 of the wateroutlet and is so arranged that the pivot can be raised or lowered toadjust the height and angle of inclination of the spout to the waterlevel in the reservoir and the elevation of the sluice-way. The spout bybeing pivoted can rise and fall freely with the sluice unit.

As thus arranged a stream of water is conducted from the dam along theseveral sluice units to the discharge location and logs entering theentrance end of the unit will be floated with the stream along the unitsto the discharge end. The elevation of the individual units can beadjusted at will to maintain them at a suitable level and grade tomaintain a strong flow of Water. The angular relation between the unitscan be adjusted to conform to the curvature of o lated through thesluice-way by a pump.

I claim:

1. A sluice-way comprising a series of sluice units each comprising apontoon having side and bottom channel Walls defining a water channel,

the Walls of channels of immediately adjacent pontoons being overlappedto provide a channel that is substantially continuous between thepontoons, tie-means connecting the adjacent pontoons togethercharacterized by holding the pontoons in a predetermined angularrelation, said pontoons having buoyancy-adjusting water compartments,and means for establishing communication With said individualcompartments to adjust the floating level and grade of the sluiceway.

2. Log conveying apparatus including a sluice- Way comprising a seriesof sluice units each comprising pontoons having walls defining a waterchannel, the pontoons floating at different levels to pitch thesluice-way, said pontoons having buoyancy-adjusting water compartments,means for establishing communication with said compartments to adjustthe amounts of water therein, the Water channel walls of immediatelyadjacent pontoons being loosely overlapped and arranged to permitdiflerent angular dispositions of the adjacent pontoons whilemaintaining such overlapped relation, means interconnecting the adjacentpontoons rigidly in a predetermined angular relation therebetween, aspout projecting into the channel of the first unit adapted to conductwater from a dam-outlet into the sluice- Way, and pivotal supportingmeans for said spout permitting it to rise and fall with the sluice-way.

3. A floating sluice structure comprising a pair of pontoons havingconfronting walls and a bottom wall defining a water channeltherebetween, said pontoons having a series of buoyancy-adjusting watercompartments disposed lengthwise of the channel, and means forseparately establishing communication with said compartments to adjustthe amounts of water therein, the bottom and side walls of said waterchannel projecting beyond one end of the pontoons and into the channelsof the immediately adjacent pontoons.

4. A floating sluice structure comprising a pair of pontoons, wallsdefining a water channel carried by said pontoons, and transverse skidmembers under said pontoons and channel and secured to and rigidlyconnecting said pontoons.

5. A floating steel sluice comprising a pair of pontoons having wallscomposed of sheet steel and having confronting walls that define a waterchannel, and a bottom wall that is common to both pontoons and saidchannel.

6. A floating steel sluice comprising a pair of pontoons having wallscomposed of sheet steel and having confronting walls that define a waterchannel, a bottom wall that is common to both pontoons and said channel,and skid members transversely disposed under said channel and secured tosaid bottom wall and rigidly interconnecting said pontoons, saidpontoons having water tight buoyancy-adjusting compartments, and meansfor establishing communication with said compartments to adjust theamounts of water therein.

'7. A floating sluice-way comprising a series of sluice units eachcomprising a pair of pontoons and side and bottom walls defining a waterchannel between them, the walls of the channels .of adjacent unitshaving interfitted parts for guiding the flow of Water from one unitinto the next adjacent unit, means interconnecting the adjacent units tomaintain a predetermined angular relation therebetween, each of saidpontoons having a series of buoyancy-adjusting water compartmentsdisposed lengthwise of the associated channel, and means forestablishing communication with said compartments to adjust the amountsof water therein to adjust the floating level and grade of each unit.

8. A floating sluice comprising a series of pontoons arranged in a lineand carrying a sluiceway, the pontoons having means for adjusting thebuoyancies thereof and the pontoons floating at different elevations tomaintain the sluiceway at an inclination so that water can flow along itby gravity.

WILLIAM A. WHITCOMB.

